Search - Black & Gold: The Story of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation on DVD

In 1994, the Latin Kings - the largest and most powerful street gang in New York - became the Latin King and Queen Nation. They claimed to have abandoned their criminal past and to be following in the footsteps of the Blac... more &raquok Panthers and the Young Lords. With over 3,000 members in New York, some saw the Latin King and Queen Nation as the most important political voice to rise from the streets in decades. The NYPD did not agree, calling them a vicious gang with a PR campaign. One thing is certain, the City was never the same after the Nation went downtown. Official selection: In 1997 Big Noise films became the only media group ever given unrestricted access to the Nation. For two years they ran with the Kings and Queens in New York City, filming on the front lines of their everyday struggle for survival. Black and Gold explores a reality that is too often reduced to a stereotype or a slogan. Its unblinking lens puts you at the center of a complex and controversial movement. The Nation was one of the major forces that made police violence and the prison system political issues in New York City. But from the beginning the NYPD has questioned the sincerity of the Nation's political involvement, and has systematically worked to dismantle what they see as the most dangerous street gang in the City. Their efforts culminated in a spectacular midnight raid on May 15, 1998 when over 1,000 Federal and City agents simultaneously raided homes across the city making over 100 arrests in what was the largest coordinated FBI action since prohibition. Black and Gold lets you feel the tension inside the movement as it comes under fire from midnight police raids and assassination attempts. In the end it shows us both the black and the gold - both the fear and violence of the street and the fierce love inside the most dangerous movement in the City. Extras include full length interviews with King Tone and Puerto Rican revolutionary Richie Perez. Official Selection: San Francisco Indiefest (Audience Award); Chicago Latino Film Festival (Encore Presentation); Deep Ellum Film Festival (Best Documentary); Black Panther Film Festival; New York Underground Film Festival; Berlin Beta Festival; Gijon Festival of International Cinema; Vistas Film Festival; Dallas Video Festival; Cinefestival&laquo less

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Movie Reviews

A New York gang transforms itself

Harriet Vane | Los Angeles, CA USA | 12/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thought-provoking, deep, at times heart-breaking, this video brings to life a new movement on New York's streets. With the extraordinary access granted to the film-makers, it is possible to enter a world few outsiders know and begin to understand it on its own terms. It is a world shaped by urban poverty with no visible escape, racism and violence. Yet there is hope here as Black & Gold follows the attempt by Latin King Tone to move the organization from the gang-life to political awareness and struggle.

Through interviews with King Tone, this documentary succeeds in showing the leadership's vision in this fundamental and fraught transformation. In the interviews with Richie Perez, educator and political activist since his work with the Young Lords in the 1970's, it succeeds in providing historical and political framework for this change. It situates the effort in the history of struggle, and a context of failing schools and social infrastructure, lack of jobs, a growing prison-industrial complex, and a society that does not value vast numbers of its population. Through interviews with other leaders and footage of meetings and marches, there is lasting and vital sense of what being part of the Latin Kings and Queens means to the membership -- how it represents a new family, a sense of self-worth and belonging, and an aspiration for a better future. There are some brilliant reflections on the role of women in the organization and their struggle against enduring machismo. It also contains a devastating indictment of the violence that so many youth confront in their daily lives, not just from each other in the struggle for survival, but from the state. The scenes of police brutality may shock those who are not from the world of the inner city, but it is desperately important that everyone in this country understand the role that police play in our neighborhoods, and its cost to families and the entire nation.

The only thing I really felt was absent was a deeper analysis of how far King Tone actually succeeded in transforming the Latin Kings and Queens, how far they were able to move from the criminal to the political. But that is a story that probably required the distance for time to really tell...But for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of life and struggle in the inner city, this is truly amazing film, I have seen none better. And those from the inner city cannot fail to see their own realities reflected here. Perez is worthy of so much respect and love, I have heard few people explain so clearly the hows and whys of what we face and what shapes our lives. I know a number of teachers who use this in their classes, and it is easy to see why."